within the meadow √ h.s.

s i x

delilah had turned to the pages where her face was the main focus. she had seen what harry saw when he looked at her, and smiled brightly. harry was nervous when her fingers flipped the pages only to reveal more images of her that he did not yet consider finished, but seeing her smile when her eyes danced across the pages lifted a weight off of him.

"you've been drawing me?" delilah asked, completely enthralled by the beautifully executed artwork in front of her.

"y-yeah, i hope you don't think i'm creepy now," harry said carefully hoping not to scare her away.

"i mean...it looks like it's on the verge of obsessive, but you're so talented. i'm honored that you found me so interesting you decided to fill up pages with my face on them," she adored the pages.

when delilah looked at the drawings, she saw something about herself that she never noticed before. harry had captured something delilah never cared to acknowledge before.

he captured her beauty that she never considered. she never saw that within herself, so when she saw it decorating the pages she blushed.

harry watched her as she flipped through the pages carefully, taking her time to admire each work. he saw the blush creep up onto her cheeks and wondered what she was thinking. she was seeing a piece of his heart and mind and he wanted just a fraction of that feeling of knowing delilah. harry saw everything within delilah. he saw the way she lit up when she was talking about her favorite books, and he wanted to capture that moment but instead had to memorize that beautiful sight. he noticed the way her eyelashes casted a shadow on the top of her cheeks and the way the end of her lips curved upwards when she glanced at him. he managed to capture the confidence she radiated when she was reading within his art and he brought out the beauty she held back.

harry knew she was beautiful and he made sure he displayed as much of that on paper as he could because he knew his work would never capture her entire essence. the few weeks that they had known each other, harry was already fond of delilah and the conversations held between them.

"do you do any other forms of art?" delilah asked with enthusiasm as she peered into harry's brain.

"yeah, just about everything, but i do have my strengths. what about you? what do you do besides read?" harry asked curiously, wanting to know more about delilah.

"um, really nothing. i come to work, read on my breaks, and when i get off i head to the meadow and read again, but lately since we've met i head to the meadow and i don't read because we're talking," she described her average days with harry as he stared at her with an intensity within his eyes that she was not familiar with.

"i'm glad we met. my days are always better going to that meadow and talking to you," harry smiled with his chin resting on his hand.

even though it was getting dark, and lenny was ready to head home, he knew delilah had lost track of time and was too indulged in her conversation with harry. and he saw the way harry looked at her, with the same interest her eyes gleamed. lenny was the first to witness the growing admiration between them, and he would always remember that evening in his cafe when the warmth between them was remarkable.

+

for the next three days, rain fell on those spring afternoons when delilah and harry would usually meet. so, harry decided to leave his house a bit early and head to the cafe before they were set to close to surprise delilah. lenny took a quick liking toward harry, and always forced delilah to hang her apron and forget the order she was making so she could spend time with harry.

harry had brought a tin full of cookies one day. he attempted to bake them when the house was empty and it was just him and percy, and they turned out quite tasty in his opinion. they were just a little lopsided and in any shape other than a cookie.

he gave the tin to delilah and she smiled brightly and offered some to lenny, and since cookies were his weakness he accepted a few and applauded harry on his successful recipe. they had established a table as theirs since that day delilah found the drawings of her, and that's where they sat as they both ate the oddly shaped cookies and laughed.

it had been about a month since they met that one afternoon in february, and harry wanted to know delilah. he wanted to know her quirks and her habits, but he also wanted to know her affection and be able to touch her skin without seeming weird. he wanted to know her. "delilah, would you like to go out sometime?"

delilah was taken aback. she was surprised, blushing, and overthinking with a mouthful of cookies.

lenny was in the kitchen washing dishes when he heard that simple question and was close to breaking a dish from the excited jump he nearly did. he poked his head out to glance at the two and harry caught his stare, so he gave him a big thumbs up quickly before delilah could see.

"i would love to," she smiled, not knowing what brought harry to suddenly ask her. harry let out a breath he was holding in and smiled while lenny smiled to himself as he dried a dish and felt excitement for the two who sat with warmth between them on the cold, rainy day.